so we asked ellen silbergeld of johns hopkins is it your word against their word? >> no. it is not.and if i may say so, i'm very tired of the press who says on the one hand and on the other hand. >> reporter: but you do understand that somebody in my position who can't possibly assess one study from the next, or one journal from the next, you can understand why i would be trying to be on the one hand, on the other hand. >> you know, at a certain point, this is rocket science. >> reporter: okay, so what am i supposed to do if it is rocket science? fortunately, i had someone else to turn do. you're the guy who covers rocket science! so am i just out of my depth here? >> i'm afraid it is rocket science. and the scientists i speak with are practically apocalyptic about a post antibiotic era. think of the procedures that could not happen: chemotherapy, cesarean sections, hip replacements, all of them absolutely rely on antibiotics. so imagine a world where we can't have those procedures and where people die of simple blisters, as occurred, not uncommonly, in the pre- antibiotic era. >> r

discovered in his conversation with johns hopkins university environmental health scientist ellen silbergeld what has been stated as the recommendations, not enforceable policy, by the f.d.a. is that agriculture should not use antibiotics for growth promotion any more, but they are still permitted to use the exact same amounts of antibiotics in feeds for prevention. so i think the category of prevention now has blown up. >> reporter: no need to worry about this at russ kremer's farm in frankenstein, missouri. his pigs do not spend their life confined indoors cheek to jowl. they have much more space, easy access to pastures, even a wooded area kremer calls his pig park. he is trying to mimic what pigs would find in nature. >> this is the best place in america to raise pigs in my mind. >> reporter: right here? >> right here. >> reporter: he rarely uses antibiotics at all and then, only if an animal is sick. antibiotics saved russ kramer's life 30 years ago. today he's doing all he can to return the favor. >> they're life savers and like we have to like ingrained into people's mind, in society'